|
It’s hard to get a silent panel to do exactly what I want. Inevitably the reader’s eye will pass over it quickly, recognizing it as a “beat” to wait before the next bit of dialogue. But here – and credit is due to Valerie’s coloring – I think it hits just right. For one panel, they can both see it: falling back into that old reality Park’s grandma is preserving, where Eve is accepted into a family she likes, and Park manages to meet their expectations. Within this panel it really does seem like it could be easy. But Park’s commitment to the idea is so brief he gets pulled away by a text, and Eve is quick (albeit unwilling) to follow. |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
I figured Park was looking up when he went to the garden and then stumbled when he realized how it might impact Eve. Being distracted by a text seems so much sadder.
Second time around reading this strip and I remember why Park was a jerk; but that aside, I love the perspective and coloring in the first panel. They look like any typical couple on a casual date, and the scene is beautiful and serene from a distance. Their half faces and Eve's slight smile in the middle panel really feel like there's some possibility or hope for them, until it all goes wrong very quickly.
I agree. I think one of the other reasons why that first image is so impactful is its set up as a precursor for what is to come.
The way the framing works, where the window is used to create another panel, but with limitations. The entrance to the cafe really forces them to the side, which further traps them together and, ultimately sets up the rest of the page. It's so good.
It's almost time for the Lizard Brain scene! I remember when it happened it sparked a debate about how Eve "should have reacted"
I'm already smiling thinking of tomorrow's lizard.
I do think Park's a jerk, but I thought when this first ran and still think now that it's interesting to at least try to look at it from his side – he doesn't know Eve's built this up in her head. All he really knows is she didn't reach out to him for years, and when he happened to be in town and figured he'd see if she wanted to hang out, she said yes and readily jumped into bed with him. That doesn't change his complete inability to read her emotions in this and the next strip, nor does it excuse his callousness in waiting till the last minute to contact her, but it does make him being completely blindsided by her reaction somewhat more understandable.
I actually think the single biggest shithead thing he does in this entire arc happens in the next comic, so I guess I'll wait till then to talk about it. 🙂
While that may be true, after they have sex she plays it pretty cool and he opts for intimacy in the cab. He wants her to be as he always envisions her- sitting around pining for him.
This is one of the most sobering, brick wall, record scratch moments in the entire series. The sexiness, dramatic tension, betrayal, public freakout, the lizard brain page that some bastard purchased before I could; this arc had it all!
The first panel has that mansplaining too. I love the combination of how, in contrast to Aimee and her rant about Larry holding forth about New York breakfast sandwiches, Eve shuts him down and breezes right past, totally unfazed. Wastes no time on that form of submissive "niceness" that we're socialized to think is necessary to [female] politeness.
She has this healthy armor. But it also might be part of what keeps her from noticing who Park really is, a dude who enjoys believing he's miles ahead of her in every category.
It's one among several red flags, but the phone thing irks me so much. Especially for a situation like this. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they had been in a stable relationship for a while and this was just a regular night out, but that's not what this is.
Yeah, it's a privilege to get to reconnect with an old friend this way and he can't even be bothered to pay attention to the conversation.
Also, the fact that they banged first makes his inability to maintain interest in her for the course of a meal much more brutal.